#bellhookstaughtme: a five week celebration of her work

Over several decades, bell hooks produced one of the most prodigious and prophetic bodies of work from any scholar—more than 40 books, ranging from essay collections to children’s books, poetry, and philosophy, challenging what she famously coined the “imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy” with love and Black joy.  In this workshop, participants will engage original source material with a series of rotating instructors, as well as Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft, a personal friend of bell’s. Together, we will ask questions about how to continue her legacy of love in the face of the imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. 

Regardless of whether you’ve never read her work at all, or have several lovingly dog-eared volumes, you’ll find new insights and wisdom engaging the beauty of her work. This class is free for Middle Church and First Corinthian Baptist Church members. We suggest a $25.00 donation for everyone else. A portion of monies raised will be given to the Watkins Family to donate to the organization of their choice. Schedule and facilitators still in formation.

Click here to get your ticket and receive Zoom information!

Schedule:

March 1: Melanie Hope
March 8: Celebrate International Women’s Day with a discussion of Bone Black and Where We Stand: Class Matters with Ghilliane Reid Melbourne and Rebecca Walker
March 15: Silas House and Katrina Monzón
March 22: Argenys Taveras  & Adrianne Wright
March 29: Feminism is for Everybody and All About (Fierce) Love with Jacqui Lewis and Gloria Steinem

Presenters:

Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft (she/her) is the Executive Minister for Justice, Education & Movement Building at Middle Church. She is the founder of Raising Imagination, a platform that examines social issues through the lens of imagination and encourages activism with young and old alike. Her activism has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo, the Wall Street Journal, and Refinery29.

Melanie Hope (she/her) is a Black lesbian poet and attorney living and working in Brooklyn, New York.  She attended Oberlin College and was a student of bell hooks circa 1988.  She has been a member of Middle Collegiate Church for many years and cherishes the ministry and community that thrives there.

Silas House (he/him) is the nationally bestselling author of six novels–Clay’s Quilt, 2001; A Parchment of Leaves, 2003; The Coal Tattoo, 2005; Eli the Good, 2009; and Same Sun Here (co-authored with Neela Vaswani) 2012, and Southernmost (June 2018)–as well as a book of creative nonfiction–Something’s Rising, co-authored with Jason Howard, 2009; and three plays. House is a former commentator for NPR’s “All Things Considered”.  His writing has appeared recently in Time, The Atlantic, Ecotone,The Advocate, Garden and Gun, and Oxford American.  House serves on the fiction faculty at the Spalding School of Creative Writing and as the NEH Chair at Berea College.

Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis (she/her) is the Senior Minister at Middle Church. She uses her gifts as author, activist, preacher, public theologian toward creating an antiracist, just, fully welcoming society in which everyone has enough. In her activism, preaching, speaking, writing, and teaching, Dr. Lewis advocates for racial equality, gun control, economic justice, equal rights for all sexual orientations/genders and marriage equality. Dr. Lewis has been on the The Today Show, All In with Chris Hayes, AM Joy, The Melissa Harris Perry Show, NY1, ABC, NBC, PBS, CBS and more. The author of many books, her newest Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World is available wherever books are sold.

Katrina Monzón (she/her) is an activist and educator from New York’s Lower East Side. Katrina believes that education is a lifelong pursuit ~ anchored in curiosity, experimentation, and JOY! In addition to working in classrooms, she has also worked as a housing organizer; an advocate for increased access to federal entitlement programs for New York City families; and, grassroots political campaigns within her local community. She currently serves on the board of the Middle Project. The two items she is proudest to have (and most protective of) in her wallet are her Voter Registration and New York Public Library cards.

Ghilaine Reid Melbourne (she/her) is a lawyer, writer, wife, mom, abolitionist, feminist, and follower of Jesus Christ who resides in Harlem NYC.  She became an avid student of the teachings, scholarship and writing of bell hooks over 25 years ago, and is honored to pay tribute to bell by discussing her book “Bone Black” and how bell’s work has shaped the movement toward love and liberation.

Gloria Steinem (she/her) is an American activist, journalist, and leader in the global feminist movement. Steinem contributed to feminism internationally as a writer, lecturer, organizer, and media spokeswoman on the issues of equality. At the age of 88, she continues her work towards a more just world through her support of seasoned and budding activists and organizations, such as the Women’s Media Center, the ERA Coalition and Equality Now. She is a co-founder of Ms. Magazine.

Argenys Taveras (he/him) is a career educator. He has taught youth in and out of school, focusing on the most underserved youth. He is the founder of Creative Masculinity, an organization that provides men with the tools they need to define their masculinity, divest from patriarchy, and experience freedom from internalized oppression through conversations, connection, and community.

Rebecca Walker (she/her) is a best-selling writer, producer, and cultural critic who has contributed to the global conversation about race, gender, sexuality, power and the evolution of the human family for more than two decades. Her books include Black, White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self, Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence, Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness, Ade: A Love Story, the interactive journal What’s Your Story: A Guide to Everyday Evolution. Rebecca has spoken at over four hundred universities, conferences, literary festivals, and corporate campuses around the world, served as a DEI consultant for several Fortune 500 companies, and is co-founder of the Third Wave Fund, an organization that supports women and transgender youth working for social justice. She has received many awards, and was named by Time Magazine as one of the most influential leaders of her generation. Her new book, Women Talk Money: Breaking the Taboo, will be published by Simon and Schuster in March 2022.

Adrianne Wright (she/her) is the Founder and CEO of Rosie, a boutique storytelling agency for non-profit organizations, people, and brands who are doing good in the world. Her portfolio includes the Biden-Harris Campaign, She Should Run, the Time’s Up Campaign, Paid Leave for All, ParentChild+, Patagonia, Colugo, Clove, Air Liquide, Change.org, Generation Citizen, Get Schooled, and Everytown for Gun Safety. She is also the Co-Founder of I Will Not Be Quiet, a community group that creates a sacred space for women to learn about the political and social issues that impact their lives. Adrianne is a passionate advocate for gender equality, and how we can empower one another to close the gender gap.